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Member seeks re-election for MacKillop

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Nick McBride

Sheryl Lowe, Naracoorte Community News

Member for MacKillop Nick McBride MP is seeking re-election when South Australians head to the polls this month.

“The Marshall government needs another term in government to continue to improve the lives of South Australians and so do I,” Mr MacKillop told The News.

“After 16 years in opposition, it takes more than one term to reach some of the goals we had when we came to government.”

Nick was born and raised in the Limestone Coast region completing his primary schooling at the Kingston Area School followed by Secondary Schooling at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. Following his secondary schooling Nick undertook a boilermaker traineeship through TAFE SA. Nick spent his early working life as a boilermaker at Adelaide Ship Construction at Port Adelaide, before returning to the Limestone Coast to continue farming his family’s property as a 6th generation wool grower.

The MacKillop Electorate will grow this year by 3500 constituents as the electorate incorporates the Coorong and Southern Mallee. Nick McBride is the State Government member for MacKillop in South Australia’s Limestone Coast, an electorate of around 25,000 people that, at the March 2022 election will stretch from Tailem Bend and Pinnaroo, to Millicent and Nangwarry in the South. Nick was elected to the House of Assembly in March 2018.

“When I came into this role, I had no idea what was ahead of me, and of course I am referring to the pandemic of Covid-19.”

“Did I ever imagine something like this would face me in my first term, I’d have to say NO!”

“Two years later as I look back over the way we, the government, has handled the pandemic I believe we have done very well. At times I thought, and said publicly, the government was risk adverse in terms of restrictions but with the advantage of hindsight I believe the end result has been a safe and economically strong State.”

“Until the borders were lifted in November 2021, we kept Covid-10 out of South Australia, allowing us to continue life without many of the hardships suffered by other states and during this time we increased our hospital, medical and staffing capabilities to deal with future outbreaks. And even as we saw numbers increase after borders lifted, the government worked with SA Health and the Commissioner of Police to act quickly and decisively and manage and control any spread. However, I am acutely aware that some sectors of our region suffered greater than others and I continue to work with them.”

Nick said he is confident if the Marshall government is re-elected it will be a strong government.

“Covid-19 is still here but we have a very successful vaccination program in place which reduces the severity and spread of the virus, enabling a safer way forward,” he said.

“Sixty per cent of the work in my Naracoorte office was Covid related over the past two years. Much of that was focused on the particular challenges faced by our border communities whose lives straddled the connecting borders of South Australia with Victoria and also New South Wales. We had to increase our staffing to cope with the workload as the needs of our community increased.”

Throughout the past four years, the MP says the government continued to improve South Australia and in importantly for him, the lives of constituents in MacKillop.

“We returned Clay Wells Road and the Ngarkat Highway to 110 kph, delivered three mobile phone towers at black spot locations across MacKillop, invested heavily in sporting facilities, delivered the Penola by-pass, upgraded the Naracoorte Hospital theatre, invested in our High School infrastructure, new and upgraded CFS infrastructure and re-invigorated the Kingston Main Streets.”

“But there is more to do.

“We need more affordable housing to solve the long-run housing shortage in the electorate, advocate for better palliative care services, as a priority upgrades to our country road network, advocate for more mental health support, improve mobile services in black spot locations for example in Furner and we need to do more in education.”

The government has just announced an election promise of a $22.2m spend at the Coomandook Area School and a $675,000 spend at the Tailem Bend Primary School.

“I believe if we see something in the regions that we wouldn’t accept in the city/suburbs, we need to do something about it and these schools need our attention.”

“Health was one of the government’s big challenges when we came to office. After 16 years of Labor which resulted in the closure and downgrade of hospitals in our regions, we faced an enormous job in turning that around but we have started that process. While the ‘Repat’ is not in the regions, it is used by many of our constituents and the Marshall government has re-opened it. This is just one example of the commitment we have to health.”

“We have a new model for the Keith Hospital going forward, supporting the hardworking local community that has worked tirelessly to keep the doors open; we now have a long- term financial commitment to support them.”

“We are investing in bringing local doctors back into our regional hospitals, something that disappeared under a Labor government. We have a commitment from the Liberal government for a $188m investment over 2 years which will bring remuneration for our local doctors more in line with what locums are currently paid. It isn’t just about the money though, it about the best care for patients. We have much more to do and need another term to continue this work.”

“While not using Covid-19 as an excuse, the demand of a pandemic on health and economy has been a challenge for all but one he believes the current government has met.”

“When we look at ambulance ramping, I believe the issue is more about the flow-through at our hospitals and wonder if we are trying to fix a model that can’t be fixed. Is there another model for our wonderful paramedics, nurses and staff, that would be a better fit for our needs?”

Round 50 of the Active Club recently allocated $70,000 across 28 sporting and recreation organizations. In addition, Mundulla Football Club was allocated $445,000, Mt Burr Football Club $120,900, McLaughlan Park Sports Inc $96,000, Bordertown Football Club $23,000 through the 2021-22 Infrastructure Grant program.

Has the current government addressed rural and regional challenges adequately we asked the member? “We’ve turned it around after 16 years of Labor but we have more to do.”

“I know we spent $1billion more than the previous Labor government on mental health and we have provided funding across health in other areas due to the pandemic.

“In terms of rural and regional communities needs, they now have the attention of the Premier Steven Marshall and the government as a whole, and this has come about through stronger relationships I now have within my own party.”

Since his election in March 2018 Nick has been appointed to a number of Parliamentary Standing Committees including the Legislative Review Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. Nick is also the current Chairman of the Environment Resources and Development Committee.

Nick is heavily involved in the local community, regularly umpiring local senior and junior AFL Football Games and is a member of the Grasslands Society of Southern Australia. He says he is a passionate advocate for business and industry. He believes that a strong economy drives benefits for the whole community.

Nick divides his time between the region and Parliament where he is an active advocate for his constituents. He says he understands the issues facing the Limestone Coast region, and is determined to work to ensure the people and businesses of MacKillop are heard at a state level.

Nick has a long history as a Liberal Party member and recalls his grandfather contributed to the preparation of the Liberal Party’s Constitution during the Menzies era in South Australia.

How is the campaign going we asked him?

“Well, I am not using many corflutes, I think they can be untidy and create waste so if I haven’t done my job well enough for MacKillop constituents over the past 4 years, a few more corflutes won’t make a difference.”

And is he still enjoying the job?

“Yes, I am, very much so and hope to keep doing it.”

“How will I do it if I am re-elected? I’ll do it the same way.”

Naracoorte Community News 9 March 2022

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.

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